A touching, sexy and surprising story of two people from completely different worlds who turn out to be a perfect match.
After an uncharacteristic one-night stand, congressional candidate Harrison Montgomery is facing scandal when Ryan Kaminski winds up pregnant; marrying her is the obvious solution, but falling in love is an unexpected surprise.
After facing a family crisis, Harrison gives into temptation and connects with Ryan, the beautiful, compassionate bartender with blue-collar roots and a slightly shady past he meets in his hotel. After a sizzling one-night stand, he leaves her a sweet note that nonetheless expresses his intention to never see her again, then feels betrayed when he learns she’s pregnant and claims the baby is his. Desperate to salvage his reputation, he convinces her to marry him, but while the two maintain a very cozy and romantic public image, privately they are too clouded by distrust and uncertainty to forge an authentic relationship, especially since Harrison’s parents and sister are struggling to navigate their own personal and public personae. Ryan wants to learn more about the “real” Harrison she met in a Manhattan hotel room but is stymied by the cool, remote man he’s become since their quick wedding. Set against the backdrop of Southern politics, the book is a modern rendition of the classic “marriage of convenience” romance trope, and in O’Keefe’s very capable hands, readers are drawn into Ryan and Harrison’s engaging journey to understanding and love. With two generations of Montgomery family scandal and drama to sift through, Harrison’s parents, especially, seem to shift from supporters to saboteurs and back again, while Ryan, especially, is an intriguing character who surprises everyone, including herself, by becoming an asset rather than a liability. Overall a great read, though there are perhaps too many moments when Ryan and Harrison seem on the brink of emotional breakthrough, only to retreat into yet another moment of uncertainty. O’Keefe, however, is a master of explaining—and selling—character motivations.
A touching, sexy and surprising story of two people from completely different worlds who turn out to be a perfect match.Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-345-54905-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bantam
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
A romance for readers looking for equal parts passion and family drama.
A violinist tries to ignore the attraction she feels toward her sister’s ex-husband.
Years earlier, India Robidoux suppressed her feelings of attraction toward her sister Elaina’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Travis Strickland. India and Travis shared an incendiary kiss on the night of her 22nd birthday while he and Elaina were on a break. India hoped it would be her chance with Travis, but she was devastated when Travis instead proposed to her sister two weeks later. Unable to cope with her feelings, India fled and spent the next six years in Europe playing violin with an international orchestra. India finally returns home to Jackson Falls, North Carolina, intending only a brief stopover before an audition with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but she’s immediately pulled into the family orbit to support her brother’s Senate campaign. The romance between India and Travis is on the back burner as Williams (His Pick for Passion, 2019, etc.) introduces the Robidoux family and many substantive but soapy subplots, most of which center on the machinations of India’s father, Grant. As the CEO of Robidoux Tobacco, Grant has meddled in his children’s lives to shore up the respectability of the family and the company. India loves her father but is determined not to let him decide her fate. As she and Travis reconnect, they find it impossible to ignore their simmering attraction. Travis is less hesitant about his feelings for India, not willing to make the mistake of letting her go again. Even though the romance gets off to a slow start, this is a pleasingly angst-y novel about forbidden lovers finding each other.
A romance for readers looking for equal parts passion and family drama.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-335-01324-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
Moyes has mastered the art of likable, not terribly memorable, but far from simple-minded storytelling.
Popular British author Moyes (The Girl You Left Behind, 2013, etc.) offers another warmhearted, off-kilter romance, this one between a financially strapped single mother and a geeky tech millionaire.
Ten years ago, Jess Thomas got pregnant and dropped out of high school to marry Marty. Two years ago, hapless Marty temporarily moved out of their home on the southern coast of England to sort out his life. He never returned. Cleaning houses by day and working in a pub at night, Jess barely earns enough to support her 10-year-old daughter, Tanzie, and her 16-year-old stepson, Nicky, whom she’s been raising since he was 8. Jess worries constantly about sensitive Nicky, a moody goth regularly beaten up by the local bully. Math genius Tanzie presents a different crisis: She’s been offered a generous scholarship to a private school her current teachers say she needs, and Jess can’t come up with the balance. The only hope is winning prize money at a math tournament in Scotland, but how to get there? Meanwhile, one of Jess’ cleaning clients, computer whiz Ed Nicholls, has come to stay in his seaside vacation home to avoid publicity surrounding insider trading charges. He and Jess share an instant mutual dislike, but when he ends up drunk at the pub, Jess makes sure he gets home safely. Partly out of gratitude, but largely to escape pressure from lawyers, his ex-wife and his sister—who’s nagging him to attend his father’s birthday party—Ed offers to drive Jess, her kids and their large dog to Scotland. A road-trip-from-hell romantic comedy ensues, complete with carsickness, bad meals and missed signals. Unsurprisingly, hostility evolves into mutual attraction. But Moyes throws in a few wrenches, like Tanzie’s failure at the competition, Ed’s father’s cancer and the cash Jess has secretly kept since it fell out of Ed’s pocket at the pub that first night.
Moyes has mastered the art of likable, not terribly memorable, but far from simple-minded storytelling.Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-525-42658-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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